TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK enters second half of season with ‘renewed resolve’
2024 BTCC battle resumes at Croft in North Yorkshire this weekend
Circuit has been ‘happy hunting-ground’ for Huff in seasons past
‘Optimistic’ Watson ‘itching’ to go racing again after summer break
TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK duo Rob Huff and Andrew Watson are heading north to Croft for the resumption of the 2024 British Touring Car Championship campaign this weekend (27-28 July), with their sights solidly set on conquering the circuit’s unique challenge.
Located just outside of Darlington, Croft has been a mainstay on the BTCC schedule since 1997, with the Toyota Corolla GR Sport triumphing there in 2020 – the seventh of the Speedworks Motorsport-prepared hot hatch’s 15 victories to-date.
Former FIA World Touring Car Champion Huff has similarly shone at the track in the past, reaching the rostrum there in the Clio Renaultsport UK Cup in 2002, winning on his way to SEAT CUPRA Championship glory the following year and then achieving a double podium finish in the BTCC at Croft in 2004, contributing to his equal-highest score of the season.
The Cambridgeshire ace has not competed there since, but it was, notably, the scene of his first exploratory laps in the British-built Corolla last autumn, which sowed the seed for his return to the UK’s premier motor racing series two decades on from his only previous full campaign in the championship. He travels there sitting 11th in the title standings, having popularly prevailed on home soil at Snetterton two months ago.
Team-mate Watson is three spots further back in 14th in the high-calibre field. The 29-year-old Northern Irishman – the BTCC’s reigning Jack Sears Trophy winner – has shown impressive speed in 2024, missing the points just twice in 15 races to-date, and while the podium has thus far frustratingly eluded him, he is more determined than ever to pick up his first trophy of the season this weekend.
Following Saturday afternoon’s qualifying session at 15:00 – streamed on ITV Sport’s YouTube channel – every moment of Sunday’s doorhandle-to-doorhandle action will be broadcast live and in high-definition on ITV4, beginning at 11:15. All three races will also be shown on the ITV Sport TikTok channel, in the UK and globally.
Christian Dick, Team Principal, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK, said:
“The summer break has proved useful in a number of ways. Firstly, it has given everybody in the team the opportunity to finally decompress a little after such an intense and quick-fire start to the campaign, while simultaneously enabling us to take a step back and assess everything with a bit of perspective and fresh eyes.
“That has been very productive, and in addition to allowing us to bring some further developments to the table, significantly, we now believe we have a better understanding of what we need to do to get the best out of the Corolla.
“Croft is such an all-round challenge in terms of its layout and nature, which makes preparation absolutely key, and it will be vital to maximise the two free practice sessions this weekend to ensure we get the car dialled properly into the window before qualifying, so that we can then focus more on the finer details and adjustments.
“It’s no secret that we didn’t achieve quite as much as we had been hoping for over the first half of the season, but we are entering the second half with a renewed resolve and brimful of optimism. The target has to be trophies every time we take to the track – beginning at Croft!”
Rob Huff, Driver, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK, said:
“I’m very excited to go to Croft and with the updates that have been brought to the Corolla, I’m feeling pretty confident. It’s always been a happy hunting-ground for me, and it’s a circuit I’ve always thoroughly enjoyed. It was where I first sampled the Toyota last year, which was a wonderful experience and that was ultimately what enticed me to return to the BTCC.
“Croft played a pivotal role in the early part of my motorsport career, too. I won the final of Tim Sugden’s ‘Be a Racing Driver’ scholarship there, which earned me a fully-sponsored season in Renault Clios in 2002, and in the BTCC, my then team-mate Jason Plato and I achieved our best joint weekend of the year at Croft in 2004 with a couple of one-two finishes.
“We did a bit of experimenting with set-up changes when we tested there pre-season, to see how the Corolla reacted. With such a varied combination of corners – from probably the slowest on the calendar to some of the fastest – it’s very difficult to set the car up perfectly. It’s one of the toughest tracks we go to in that respect, and you inevitably have to sacrifice a bit here to gain a bit there, but on the flipside, that makes it extremely rewarding when you do manage to crack it.
“The goal as ever is to reach the final stage of qualifying, extract the maximum possible out of the package we’ve got and come away with a solid haul of points. I’m looking forward to it!”
Andrew Watson, Driver, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing UK, said:
“It’s been a good break. I think everybody in the team needed it after such a busy start to the season. It’s provided an opportunity to reset and refocus, and we’re approaching Croft as a fresh start. The team has been working hard on developments and upgrades back at the workshop, and I’m feeling optimistic.
“Croft is another of the more ‘old-school’ circuits on the calendar; it’s bumpy and doesn’t have the same kind of run-off as some of the bigger tracks, so you need to be more precise. It also tends to produce really good racing, with some decent overtaking opportunities.
“The lap has a bit of everything, which makes it a challenge from both a driving and set-up point-of-view, but much the same can be said of Snetterton and we had plenty of pace there so I’m confident we can come away with some strong results. Hybrid will have an effect, without a doubt, and having the full allocation can only help us so we need to evaluate how to make the most of that advantage.
“I think everyone is itching to get back out there again, and we definitely want to be somewhere up near the front, scoring lots of points and targeting trophies. Let’s see if we can pick up that elusive first podium of the season...”
Images: Jakob Ebrey Photography